Two Connecticut men are facing multiple commercial fishing charges after state environmental police said an enforcement operation in West Haven Harbor uncovered undersized fish and blue crabs, illegally harvested oysters, and unlicensed fishing.
According to reports from the Hartford Courant and WFSB, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Environmental Conservation Police arrested Qidong Chen and Yuqing Lin, both 53, of Meriden, following an operation prompted by complaints about illegal nets in the harbor.
Many complaints came from boaters who said the nets posed navigation and safety concerns, including the potential to foul boat motors. Authorities removed and confiscated the nets.
Chen and Lin were charged with commercial fishing without a license, fishing for summer flounder without the required endorsement, possession of 15 undersize summer flounder, illegal harvest of 99 eastern oysters, shellfishing after sunset, and possession of 51 undersize blue crabs.
Connecticut requires commercially harvested summer flounder to measure at least 14 inches, according to DEEP. WFSB reported that the smallest summer flounder seized during the operation measured just 3.5 inches.
DEEP said regulations governing minimum sizes and harvest hours are intended not only to protect fishery resources but also licensed fishermen who comply with the rules.
“We often hear the sentiment that fish and game crimes are ‘victimless’ and therefore less serious,” DEEP said, according to WFSB. “However, size limits and harvest hours exist so these species can reach reproductive age, and so the commercial fishermen who follow the law are not undercut by those who do not.”
The seized fish were donated to A Place Called Hope, a raptor rehabilitation center in Killingworth, where they will feed birds of prey undergoing rehabilitation.
